neglect.

It's happening so often that it sounds cliche.
Embarrassed to admit (again) that it has fallen into decay.
Not that it has been forgotten... that has never been the case...
It has always lingered on the fringes of my mind.
Perhaps it's part lazy or maybe it's the fatigue.
Who says every day life isn't tiring?
It's so daunting to get past the inertia of doing something,
When it's so much more satisfying to slump in the couch.
The days go by ever so fast when you're not looking.
And as the stretch of road ahead of you gets longer,
The urge to throw in the towel just gets stronger.
So many things in your life demand your time,
And truly there's only so much you can do.
When you spend time doing this thing,
There goes time to rest or for other things.

World Issues

Call them funny if you will, but the Flight of the Conchords, which is a New Zealand comedy duo composed of Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement, bring our attention to real world issues through parody singing. Below is a snippet of what I mean:



What is wrong with the world today and what will become of it tomorrow? Youth taking drugs and taking each others' lives, humans contracting diseases like AIDS, honest people getting jailed, children being involved in human trafficking, the harm to the environment from all the pollution -- all affect the world we live and probably for generations to come if we don't address them soon. Yet what are we doing to address these issues? Sadly, there are many people including world leaders who choose to sit on these issues, coming out to downplay the seriousness of the consequences, adopting a sweep-under-the-carpet kind of attitude.

We all know that issues don't just disappear on their own and there will come a day when they will all come back and haunt us.

Filial Piety

An American friend of mine was wondering about what filial piety means in a modern Asian society. Simply defined, filial piety means to be good to one's parents, to show love, respect and courtesy, and to take up the duty of taking care of one's parents till death. However, looking at modern Asian society like Singapore, the picture of filial piety may not be so simply defined.

I like this commercial by Petronas showing a scene out of Chinese New Year reunion dinner where some old ladies are proudly discussing about the so-called successes of their children:



It is filial piety duty to do our parents proud but what good would it do if we cannot even spare time to show them our love?

Tears in heaven

A kid asked my teacher friend an innocent, simple question, "Would my pet dog go to heaven, teacher?" My friend pondered for a while and answered, "Well, I think not." The next thing that happened, the kid broke into tears.

Do animals go to heaven? If I were asked the very same question, I would really be stumped. No kidding! I decided to google for an answer but after much research, there just wasn't any conclusive answer. It could be that human souls and animal souls are different after all, and only good human souls make their way to heaven.

The truth is, I really don't know. If the day ever comes when a kid who has lost his/her animal friend comes and asks me that very same question, I might just reply, "I don't know for sure, but all I know is that all good souls go to heaven."

It may sound diplomatic and fearing to see a child in tears but what good is there in boggling a child's mind with classification of souls, the definition of heaven and the cosmos, when all the kid wants is to be consoled that a friend has gone to a good resting place?

Garbage Patch Kids

There is good reason to support local artistes and one upcoming starlet is Kewei. Below is a song composed by her about all the plastic trash that accumulates in this planet, on land and in the oceans. Please click on this link to read more and hope you enjoy her heartfelt song, Plastic Mannequin Love by Tay Kewei.



I remember watching the movie Wall-E on a flight as I missed it in the theatres. The movie postulated a scenario where Earth is so-filled with rubbish that humans decided to take the easy way out and blast off into space and abandon the planet. Who knows, this could be our future at this rate we are going.

Here is another video about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch to make you realise this future could happen sooner than we think.



Issues regarding the environment is everyone's responsibility. We all need to do our part.

Friends

Here are some nice quotations about friendship:

Friends are those rare people who ask how we are and then wait to hear the answer.

A friend is someone who thinks you're a good egg even though you're slightly cracked.

Remember friends as you pass by,
As you are now so once was I.
As low as I you once must be,
Prepare yourself and follow me.
-On a gravestone

Love all, trust a few; Do wrong to none.-William Shakespeare

Hold On

Couldn't resist but share this magical song by Carlos Santana... enjoy!

Santana - Hold On

Don't rush me just this once
I want to make this moment last
Slow down the pace, there's no hurry
I can't let another pass by me again
Let me be the one to say when I've had enough

Just let me close my eyes, memorize
The way things are this minute
So when you're gone I can go on
If memory can hold within it what I'm feeling
Should time try fading or stealing something away

CHORUS:
Hold on, nothing's the same
Tell me why I feel this way
Life wouldn't be worth living without you
All along I've been the pretender
But now that's gone forever
Nobody's ever loved me like you do
Nobody's broken through

Got to concentrate, file away
Every last detail
Don't want to lose what's going down
I want to remember everything I'm feeling
Should time try fading or stealing something away

Do clothes make a man?

In a Jewish story, the prophet Elijah once dressed in the rags of a beggar and knocked at the door of a home where a wedding celebration was being held. The father of the bride opened the door, and Elijah asked if there was room in the party for one like him. The man slammed the door in Elijah’s face. Elijah returned again to the wedding celebration, this time dressed in the garb of a fine gentleman. This time he was welcomed with great respect. Elijah entered the house, went over to the table, and stuffed food into his vest and shirt pockets and poured wine over his clothes. When the host came rushing over, demanding an explanation, Elijah replied:

“When I, Elijah, came to your house in the rags of a beggar, I was refused entry. When I, the same Elijah, came to your house in the clothes of a gentleman, I was admitted. I could only conclude that you invited my clothes to the feast. So, I have proceeded to feed them.”

In another story, a villager who recently struck it rich decided to go to a city shop to buy a television. However the shopkeeper refused to sell it to him. Thinking that perhaps it was because he was dressed too shabbily, the villager went home, changed into fine clothes and went to the shop again saying, "I want to buy that television." Again, the shopkeeper refused.

Being quite mad, the villager exclaimed, "Sir, I have money and I want to buy that television!" The shopkeeper calmly replied, "This is a microwave oven and I cannot sell it to someone so silly as you."

The Nature of Angst

I still remember my younger angsty days,
Living my life as I think it to be.
Always having a cause to strive for,
Always ready for a fight,
Never afraid to right a wrong,
Defending my brand of justice.

What I normally excelled in tests,
Deliberately I did badly in the exams.
All to prove a point,
All in the name of protest and detest.
This is what angst can drive you to do.
Could it be that adolescence fueled this engine of angst?
So much pent-up energy unleashed upon this world.

Gone are those younger angsty days,
Relinquished is this power of raw anger.
For there's nothing to prove at the end of it all.
What angst begets is more angst.
The flames of anger spread easily like wild fire.
Some times it's just better to sow the seeds of discretion.

Life After Death

I was rummaging through my stuff and found an old metallic watch that belonged to my late grandfather. I was told that the watch had stopped working shortly after his passing, pretty much like the popular song, My Grandfather's Clock. It was the only physical inheritance I was given after his death and that made me wonder about all the material possessions we accumulate in life -- it all gets left behind when we die. All of the clothes I own, bags, books and even the laptop I'm using will eventually be left behind when I depart from this world.

The teachings from the Bible (Luke 12:33-34) say: Sell what you have and give alms; provide yourselves money bags which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches nor moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Even the Buddhist teachings tell of not being unduly attached to the material possessions that we accumulate as they bring about worries and other disturbances.

Indeed how wise the teachings are... and so goes back the watch that carries with it no more than a keepsake memory with my collection of other stuff.